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Three years into the start of a new millennium, that was the last time I stepped foot in an airplane. It feels like ages ago but I remember that period of my life like it was yesterday because it was also the final time I went on vacation with my family, as a whole, as a unit. It's not that my family is no longer here with me, it's just that now, many years down the row, everyone is so busy, society, the workforce, school has consumed us but I guess that's life. Punta Cana was the time of my life, when responsibilities didn't weigh on my every waking existence, newborn sister, relatives I've known since birth; life was good. However, this isn't a story about them, it's about what, who, I discovered during this all too short week. Reliving it in my mind, the memories come flooding back and all I can feel is pure bliss because for the first time on vacation, neither I nor my family had food poisoning! The amazingly extravagant resort, the warmth I can recall, one that lingers in the air yet isn't suffocating also helps. Everyday was packed with adventure, from the beaches, basketball, swimming, ping-pong. It was perfect. By the bar inside the pool, I drank so many virgin strawberry daiquiris, which I pronounce incorrectly to this day, but who cares, that one word brings me back to a time when life was simple. By the second day, my cousin and I made friends with three others, two brothers and a girl. It was a crazy coincidence because all of them were also from Ontario, Canada, nearby towns, a couple of hours from Toronto. Needless to say, the five of us got on like a house on fire. We were inseparable for the following days. We did everything together and everything was million times better with the gang. The beaches, the food, basketball, swimming, ping-pong, even the daiquiris got sweeter. Every morning, we rushed out of our suites, skipped breakfast, just to see one another and chart the course of the day. We saw each other more than our own families. We became a family, looking after one another, making each other laugh, smile, cry, like we've known each other forever. There was nothing we couldn't do, we were unstoppable. Asian, Caucasian, girl, boy, big city, small town, none of that mattered, in that time, all we had were each other, all we had was what brought us together, a resort, Punta Cana, a vacation, the last time I traveled.